Jeff Stelling’s West Ham Countdown

West Ham have drawn first division Hartlepool away in the FA Cup fourth round. Just the sort of match we normally come a cropper in. Not this season, though, I feel. Mind you, Hartlepool are no mugs, as they showed against Stoke. They are 15th in League one, but have a few useful players.

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13 Responses to Jeff Stelling’s West Ham Countdown

Heard a chap on Sky from Hartlepool say they played a long ball game against Stoke and a lot of high balls. They didn’t think they could get away with the same tactics against West Ham as the football is usually played on the deck more so it would possibly be that much harder for Hartlepool plus West Ham have got some talented players.
Hope he’s right,as it was said earlier today that Hartlepool would be a hard side to play on their own patch as they had put out 2 Prem teams already this year. One in the League Cup and the other Stoke in the F A Cup.
With our away form I am going for a 0-1 win to West Ham.

I think we’ll do ok against Hartlepool, a more even contest may be with the Millwall fans on the train if they win their replay and Newcastle beat Hull they’ll be making the same journey as us on the same weekend! Who said the FA cup has lost it’s appeal?

THIS IS THE ONE win this and I also have a good feeling this could be our year I just hope it does’nt cost us in the league, injuries,suspensions and tierdness. Still it’s all a bit more exciting now and long trem I feel a lot happier.
COYI !!!!!

Everyone in the country will be looking at the draw and saying here’s your next shock but i’m not so sure. Although a tricky tie i don’t see why we can’t go there and do them over just like we did against Barnsley! 3-0 Hammers all the way!

Terrific draw for us. Gotta be delighted that a few of the teams you really dont want to draw till the Semis are drawn against each other too. Should be a fairly diluted fifth round with plenty of mugs to go round… be great to do what Millwall did and make it to a Final on the back of an easy run of games. Kettering in the semi!!! COYI!!
And is it just me or could we really finish January with a stronger squad than the one that started it.. hopefully it will feature Dyer starting to fire on all cylinders, the few glimpses we got of him mean I have everything crossed.

Goatygav, my understanding is that the court have given Hansa till 6 March 2009 to work out arrangements to pay it’s creditors. As part of the process Hansa listed all of its assets and that included it’s valuation of the club at £250m. The creditors are not pushing the issue in the hope that Hansa can work out deals to reimburse them and the knowledge that administration will see them receive very little. There was certainly no specific stipulation by the court that West Ham had to be sold by March! This link was made by our poisionous tabloids and the misinformed Guardian!

BG’s financial arrangements are beyond my limited financial expertise, but it is not beyond the relms of possibility that he is seeking to cut his losses and restructure his assets to recover his overall business position. Perhaps Hansa is part of that strategy, as is West Ham Utd FC! There is also the possibility that BG will sell a % of West Ham Utd PLC to refinance the club, rather than go for an outright sale.

One thing is absolutely certain, it is West Ham Utd PLC that is the affiliate of the Premier League, not Hansa. Tey will only face administration and a points deduction if the club fail to meet our direct financial obligations such as player/staff salaries, transfer instalments, payments on loans, etc. The club can do this because it is largely self-financing and firewalled from BG’s other business concerns and liabilities.

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About Iain Dale

I'm a season ticket holder in the Dr Martens Lower and originally come from Saffron Walden in Essex, although I now live in Tunbridge Wells. By day I am a political writer and commentator for various media organisations including the Daily Telegraph, the BBC and Sky News. I am also publisher of the new monthly magazine called TOTAL POLITICS. I want this blog to be a mixture of gossip, humour, reporting and analysis - with the odd rant thrown in too. My other blog is a political one at http://iaindale.blogspot.com and if West Ham Till I Die attracts half as many readers as that, I'll be very happy.